The Graminhais Plateau is located in the interior of São Miguel, northeast of Furnas, at an altitude of 900 metres, occupying an active peat bog area of around 100 hectares. It is one of the oldest original landscapes on the island, having been mentioned by Gaspar Frutuoso in the 16th century in his book Saudades da Terra, as a natural meadow. A visit to Graminhais can be a unique and memorable experience, as it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and original landscapes in the Azores, covered with moss, reeds and cedars, and coloured for much of the year by rain and fog, which give the place a mystical atmosphere of great beauty. This is the best-preserved of the peat bogs on São Miguel and the ideal breeding habitat for the common snipe (Gallinago gallinago).

Notable species: common snipe (Gallinago gallinago), eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola), snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis).

Other species: eurasian teal (Anas crecca), buzzard (Buteo buteo rothschildi), yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis), european robin (Erithacus rubecula), common blackbird (Turdus merula azorensis), goldcrest (Regulus regulus azoricus), azores grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea patriciae), eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapila), atlantic canary (Serinus canaria), common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs moreletti), azores bullfinch (Phrrhula murina).

Species rarely seen: wilson’s snipe (Gallinago delicata), jack snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus), fieldfare (Turdus pilaris), Naumann’s thrush (Turdus naumanni) and red crossbill (Loxia curvirrostral).